The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Generally, many different parts are assembled through various processes to manufacture a vehicle.
Particularly, as the first step in a vehicle manufacturing process, a vehicle body panel is produced during a press process. Each panel is then assembled and joined to complete a vehicle body (BIW: body in white).
For the vehicle body, a side panel, a roof panel, and a rear panel, etc. are joined during a main body process. A painting work is conducted during a painting process, and then an engine, a transmission, and interior/exterior materials are assembled during an outfitting process.
Here, to move the vehicle body into different processes or to conduct a welding work, an assemble work, a sealing work, and a hemming work, etc. for the vehicle body, the vehicle body is disposed on a transfer unit and the vehicle body moves while the transfer unit moves along a transport rail.
However, a vehicle body transfer system using the conventional transfer unit is difficult to accommodate various shapes and sizes of the vehicle body. Accordingly, the conventional vehicle body transfer system used different type of transfer units corresponding to each vehicle type.
Recently, a common transfer unit capable of transporting the various vehicle bodies by varying a width direction position, a length direction position, and a height of a supporting part supporting the vehicle body has been introduced.
In this case, a motor for varying the position of the supporting part must be provided and this may increase manufacturing cost associated with manufacturing the transfer unit may be increased and, as a result, a maintenance may also be burdensome.
As the needs of consumers become diverse, a number of production demand models (platforms) is also increasing due to the diverse vehicle types (the engine, a fuel cell, an electric vehicle, etc.).
In a situation where the global economy is uncertain, auto manufacturers around the world are inevitable to increase the vehicle types with the same production line rather than constructing a new factory. In that regard, sharing (common use) for the transfer unit may be desired.
The above information disclosed in this section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the disclosure and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.